OTTAWA—Whatever you’ve heard about them rolling up the sidewalks at the end of an Ottawa workday . . . forget it. There’s a lot happening in the nation’s capital, whether you’re a museum junkie (hear, hear), looking for a live music fix, or angling for a good meal. The challenge isn’t finding something to do. The challenge is whittling the list down.

Ottawa’s creds are impressive: Starting point of the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site, 180 kilometres of recreational pathways, a dozen-plus museums, and one of Canada’s oldest and largest farmers’ markets. For these 24 hours, I was staying close to the city core.

The first decision was finding an affordable place to sleep, within walking distance of all the downtown sights. This turned out to be easy with Hotwire, a discount travel website for last minute, non-refundable deals on rooms, car rentals and flights. I booked a suite (with full kitchen) at the Extended Stay Deluxe on Cooper St., a 10-minute walk from the Parliament Buildings and the bustling ByWard Market neighbourhood. Great location and on weekends street parking in downtown Ottawa is free (except for in the ByWard Market).

Nearby was Dunn’s Famous deli for breakfast, open 24/7 and serving up a protein — and fat — hit of the popular Bagel Benedict piled with poached eggs, hand-cut smoked meat and Hollandaise sauce.

It was a 20-minute walk along Elgin St. to the Canadian Museum of Nature. Elgin has a mix of interesting bistros, pubs and quirky shops, so the stroll involved a little window browsing along the way.

Housed in an imposing Victorian-era stone building, the family-friendly Canadian Museum of Nature was the country’s first national museum. The recent renovation includes the addition of the “Queen’s Lantern,” a multi-storey glass foyer evoking the building’s original stone tower. Step into the new Water Gallery and come face-to-face with the skeleton of an endangered blue whale, stretching the entire length of the main gallery (specs: 2.5 tonnes, 19-metres long, 190 bones). Other museum highlights are the fossil gallery — you enter under the gaze of the Daspletosaurus (the “Top of the Food Chain”) — and then wander through a large gallery of dinosaur models and skeletons.

Lunch was an exercise in culinary wavering. The decision was to nosh through the food-rich ByWard Market, with a rule of just one item per stop. Locals suggested the back corner deli counter at La Bottega Nicastro where six dollars buys a large design-a-wich. I chose my bread, cheese, meats and toppings and then sat outside at a patio table to do a little people watching.

Also in the market, I picked up an overpriced pastry at BeaverTails (let’s be realistic — $3.75 for flour, sugar and cinnamon?), something I would pass on the next time. Just two blocks north is The French Baker — another local tipster pointed me there for authentic chocolate croissants ($2.63 each and worth every bite). By this time I’d ingested too many carbs and was pining for some fruits and veggies. Walking through the market stalls is one of the true pleasures of downtown Ottawa. A small basket of raspberries from a market vendor did the trick.

Just steps away from the market sits the Fairmont Château Laurier, the grandest hotel in the nation’s capital. I never pass up the opportunity to soak up the classy vibe in Zoé’s Lounge on the main floor, where I ordered a sampler tray of Canadian cheeses and a couple of drinks to toast the 100th anniversary of the historic property. Afterwards, I got my free Yousuf Karsh fix, gazing at the display of signed portrait photographs in the hotel’s Reading Lounge (including those of Einstein, Picasso and Winston Churchill).

It’s a short walk from the hotel to Parliament Hill, but by the time I got there the free 45-minute tours were booked up. I took another free alternative — a visit to the top of the Peace Tower — two flights of stairs and an elevator ride takes visitors to the best birds-eye view of Ottawa, the observation level immediately underneath the clock face. Back at ground level, around the back of the Centre Block, is a curved wall topped by bronze statues of Canadian statesmen Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine. Known as the Whispering Wall, two people can sit at opposite ends, whisper and be heard loud and clear by one another.

As the sun set below the horizon, I walked through the doors of the Old Jail on Nicholas St., built 110 years ago as a model institution. In 1972, the jail was shuttered due to “inhumane living conditions” and has since been renovated into a popular hostel. It’s also the site for the Haunted Walk’s Crime and Punishment Tour, where I passed an hour learning about cell life in the 19th century, the harsh punishments of the time, death row and the public gallows.

How likely is it that I would get the same restaurant recommended for dinner by the people at the hostel and the concierge at the swank Château Laurier? They both suggested Chez Lucien, a local pub on the fringes of the ByWard Market area. This spot is popular with locals and students and is known for the selection of beers (and the generous bar staff who insist on several samplings before deciding on one), housemade burgers, and a free jukebox stocked with classics like Good Golly Miss Molly and Take Five. It took about three seconds to engage in conversation with the fellow at the next bar stool who observed: “Hank Williams to Thelonious Monk. It doesn’t get more varied than that.”

SLEEPING Location, location, location. I used Hotwire to book a large, discounted room at the Extended Stay Deluxe at 141 Cooper St. An even less expensive alternative would be a room (dorm or private) at the HI Ottawa Jail Hostel, where single beds start at around $30 per night. hihostels.ca

WEB SURFING Fairmont.com. ottawatourism.ca

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